Characters interactions in a video game or other virtual environment managed by an automated system

ABSTRACT

In various embodiments, systems generate a video game or other virtual environment and player characters in the video game can form different types of interactions and relationships. Some relationships provide benefits and/or obligations. The video game facilitates the monitoring, forming and terminating of various kinds of relationships.

This application is a continuation-in-part of each of the following U.S.patent applications, and each of the following applications isincorporated herein by reference:

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/368,143, entitled “Video GameMethods and Systems” filed Mar. 3, 2006;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/694,669, entitled “VirtualEnvironment with Formalized Inter-Character Relationships”, filed Mar.30, 2007;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/421,025, entitled “FinancialInstitutions and Instruments in a Virtual Environment”, filed May 30,2006;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/621,880, entitled “Video GameIncluding Child Character Generation Using Combination of ParentCharacter Attributes”, filed Jan. 10, 2007;

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/754,810, entitled “Apparatus andmethods facilitating the use of financial transactions in a virtualenvironment”, filed Apr. 6, 2010; and

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/754,805, entitled “System whichmanages relationships between characters in a video game or othervirtual environment”, filed Apr. 6, 2010.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a system according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 illustrates a system according to an embodiment.

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary method according to an embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following sections I-X provide a guide to interpreting the presentapplication.

I. Terms

The term “product” means a machine, manufacture and/or composition ofmatter, unless expressly specified otherwise.

The term “process” means a process, algorithm, method or the like,unless expressly specified otherwise.

Each process (whether called a method, algorithm or otherwise)inherently includes one or more steps, and therefore all references to a“step” or “steps” of a process have an inherent antecedent basis in themere description of a process, or in the mere recitation of the term‘process’ or a like term. Accordingly, any reference in a claim to a‘step’ or ‘steps’ of a process has sufficient antecedent basis.

The term “invention” and the like mean “the one or more inventionsdisclosed in this application”, unless expressly specified otherwise.The terms “an embodiment”, “embodiment”, “embodiments”, “theembodiment”, “the embodiments”, “one or more embodiments”, “someembodiments”, “certain embodiments”, “one embodiment”, “anotherembodiment” and the like mean “one or more (but not all) embodiments ofthe invention”, unless expressly specified otherwise. Two or moredescribed embodiments may or may not be mutually exclusive. The merefact that two embodiments are described, or that two embodiments aredescribed in proximity to each other or in conjunction with each other,does not imply that the two embodiments are mutually exclusive. Adescribed embodiment may or may not be strictly narrower than andencompassed by another described embodiment. The mere fact that twoembodiments are described, or that two embodiments are described inproximity to each other or in conjunction with each other, does notimply that one of the embodiments is strictly narrower than andencompassed by the other embodiment.

The term “variation” of an invention means an embodiment of theinvention, unless expressly specified otherwise.

A reference to “another embodiment” in describing an embodiment does notimply that the referenced embodiment is mutually exclusive with anotherembodiment (e.g., an embodiment described before the referencedembodiment), unless expressly specified otherwise. Similarly, the merefact that two (or more) embodiments are referenced does not imply thatthose embodiments are mutually exclusive.

One embodiment of the invention may cover or embrace more than one otherembodiment of the invention. For example, a first embodiment comprisingelements a, b, and c may cover a second embodiment that compriseselements a, b, c, and d as well as a third embodiment covering elementsa, b, c, and e. Similarly, each of the first, second, and thirdembodiments would cover a fourth embodiment comprising elements a, b, c,d, and e.

The terms “including”, “comprising” and variations thereof mean“including but not necessarily limited to”, unless expressly specifiedotherwise. Thus, for example, the sentence “the machine includes a redwidget and a blue widget” means the machine includes the red widget andthe blue widget, but may possibly include one or more other items aswell as another example, the sentence “Examples of machines include acomputer and a motor” means that one example of a machine is a computer,another example of a machine is a motor, and there may be other examples(e.g., things that are neither computers nor motors may nevertheless bea machine)

The term “consisting of” and variations thereof mean “including and alsolimited to”, unless expressly specified otherwise. Thus, for example,the sentence “the machine consists of a red widget and a blue widget”means the machine includes the red widget and the blue widget, but doesnot include anything else.

The term “compose” and variations thereof mean “to make up theconstituent parts of, component of or member of”, unless expresslyspecified otherwise. Thus, for example, the sentence “the red widget andthe blue widget compose a machine” means the machine includes the redwidget and the blue widget.

The term “exclusively compose” and variations thereof mean “to make upexclusively the constituent parts of, to be the only components of, orto be the only members of”, unless expressly specified otherwise. Thus,for example, the sentence “the red widget and the blue widgetexclusively compose a machine” means the machine consists of the redwidget and the blue widget (i.e. and nothing else).

The indefinite articles “a” and “an” and the definite article “the”refer to “one or more” of the noun modified by that article, unlessexpressly specified otherwise. Thus, for example, the phrase “a widget”means one or more widgets, unless expressly specified otherwise.Similarly, after reciting the phrase “a widget”, a subsequent recitationof the phrase “the widget” means “the one or more widgets”. Accordingly,it should be understood that the word “the” may also refer to a specificterm having antecedent basis. For example, if a paragraph mentions “aspecific single feature” and then refers to “the specific singlefeature,” then the word “the” should be understood to refer to thepreviously mentioned “a specific single feature.”

The term “plurality” means “two or more”, unless expressly specifiedotherwise.

A “set” of things (e.g., a set of widgets) may include one or more ofthose things (e.g., one or more widgets), which are members of the set.Whether the set includes a particular item as a member is synonymouswith whether a set includes the particular item.

A “subset” of things (e.g., a subset of widgets) may include one or moreof those things. A subset does not imply that there must be in thesubset fewer things than in some other set of things. A subset of aparticular set may include some or all of the members of the set.

A reference to a “plurality” (and like terms such as “at least one”,“one or more”, “set” and the like) has inherent antecedent basis for the“number” of things included in the plurality (or in the set, etc.). Forexample, in the phrase “receiving a plurality of commands”, there isinherent antecedent basis for “the number of commands”. For example, inthe phrase “receiving a set of commands”, there is inherent antecedentbasis for “the number of commands”.

The term “herein” means “in the present application, including anythingwhich may be incorporated by reference”, unless expressly specifiedotherwise.

The phrase “at least one of” is equivalent to “one or more of”, and wheneither such phrase modifies a plurality of things (such as an enumeratedlist of things), such phrase means any combination of one or more ofthose things, unless expressly specified otherwise. For example, thephrase “at least one of a widget, a car and a wheel” means either (i) awidget, (ii) a car, (iii) a wheel, (iv) a widget and a car, (v) a widgetand a wheel, (vi) a car and a wheel, or (vii) a widget, a car and awheel. The phrase “at least one of”, when such phrase modifies aplurality of things does not mean “one of each of” the plurality ofthings. For example, the phrase “at least one of a widget, a car and awheel” does not mean “one widget, one car and one wheel”. Numericalterms such as “one”, “two”, etc. when used as cardinal numbers toindicate quantity of something (e.g., one widget, two widgets), mean thequantity indicated by that numerical term, but do not mean at least thequantity indicated by that numerical term. For example, the phrase “onewidget” does not mean “at least one widget”, and therefore the phrase“one widget” does not cover, e.g., two widgets.

The phrase “based on” does not mean “based only on”, unless expresslyspecified otherwise. In other words, the phrase “based on” covers both“based only on” and “based at least on”. Therefore, the phrase “basedon” is equivalent to the phrase “based at least on” and is alsoequivalent to the phrase “based at least in part on”. For example, thephrase “element A is based on element B and element C” coversembodiments where element A is calculated as the product of B times C(in other words, A=B×C) and where A is calculated as the sum of B plus C(in other words, A=B+C).

The term “represent” and like terms are not exclusive, unless expresslyspecified otherwise. For example, the term “represents” does not mean“represents only”, unless expressly specified otherwise. For example,the phrase “the data represents a credit card number” covers both “thedata represents only a credit card number” and “the data represents acredit card number and the data also represents something else”.

The term “whereby” is used herein only to precede a clause or other setof words that express only the intended result, objective or consequenceof something that is explicitly recited before the term “whereby”. Thus,when the term “whereby” is used in a claim, the clause or other wordsthat the term “whereby” precedes do not establish specific furtherlimitations of the claim or otherwise restrict the meaning or scope ofthe claim.

The terms “e.g.”, “such as” and like terms mean “for example”, and thusdo not limit the term or phrase they explain. For example, in thesentence “the computer sends data (e.g., instructions, a data structure)over the Internet”, the term “e.g.” explains that “instructions” are anexample of “data” that the computer may send over the Internet, and alsoexplains that “a data structure” is an example of “data” that thecomputer may send over the Internet. However, both “instructions” and “adata structure” are merely examples of “data”, and other things besides“instructions” and “a data structure” can be “data”.

The term “time”, when used as a determined quantity, means any sort oftime (e.g., time of day, day of week, date, year) on which one or morethings are determined to occur.

The term “period of time” means any sort of duration (e.g., number ofseconds, number of minutes, other durations) of one or more things.

The term “good” generally refers to anything which may be provided inexchange for money or other value, and thus “good” includes services,rights and items, whether tangible or intangible.

The term “respective” and like terms mean “taken individually”. Thus iftwo or more things have “respective” characteristics, then each suchthing has its own characteristic, and these characteristics can bedifferent from each other but need not be. For example, the phrase “eachof two machines has a respective function” means that the first of thetwo machines has a function and the second of the two machines has afunction as well. The function of the first machine may or may not bethe same as the function of the second machine.

Similarly, in the phrase “for each of the plurality of widgets,determining a respective price of the widget, a reference to “thewidget” in that phrase means the “determining” step is applied to(performed for) each widget of the plurality of widgets. The phrase “therespective prices of the plurality of widgets” thus means the set whichincludes as members each respective price of the plurality of widgets.

The term “i.e.” and like terms mean “that is”, and thus limits the termor phrase it explains. For example, in the sentence “the computer sendsdata (i.e., instructions) over the Internet”, the term “i.e.” explainsthat “instructions” are the “data” that the computer sends over theInternet.

A numerical range includes integers and non-integers within the range,unless expressly specified otherwise. For example, the range “1 to 10”includes the integers from 1 to 10 (e.g., 1, 2, 3, 4, . . . 9, 10) andnon-integers (e.g., 1.1, 1.2, . . . 1.9). A range may be denoted asnon-inclusive explicitly, such as “the range of voltages from 2.5 voltsto 10.3 volts exclusive”, and such a range excludes 2.5 volts andexcludes 10.3 volts.

A range can be continuous or discrete. For example, the range “fromthree meters to five meters” is a continuous range. The range “integerranges from three meters to five meters” is a discrete range.

A range includes two ends, and each such end is, where the range isinclusive, a thing that is included in the range. Thus a rangeinherently has antecedent basis for the term “the ends”, and hasantecedent basis for the term “an end” and has antecedent basis for theterms “the first end” and “the second end”. Where the range is orderedor may be ordered (e.g., a range of integers that may be orderednumerically, a range of text that may be ordered alphabetically) therange includes ends that are distinguishable because of their respectiveordering. Thus a range that may be ordered has antecedent basis forterms that denote the place of the end in the ordering scheme (e.g., arange that can be numerically ordered has a “low end” and a “high end”).

When used to compare values (e.g., integers, fractions) which arecapable of being ordered with respect to each other, the phrase “notgreater than” is equivalent to “less than or equal to”. Similarly, thephrase “not less than” is equivalent to “greater than or equal to”.

In reference to a plurality of things (e.g., a plurality of widgets)superlatives, where a superlative may be applied to the plurality (e.g.,the largest widget of the plurality of widgets, the lowest price of theset of prices) and there is inherently antecedent basis for suchsuperlative.

For example, for a plurality of numbers, there is inherent antecedentbasis for the phrase “the greatest number of the plurality of numbers”,e.g., since numbers can be ordered from least to greatest and thus thegreatest number is readily and unambiguously ascertainable—the greatestnumber is that number of the plurality of numbers which is greater thanall other numbers of the plurality of numbers. Similarly, in anembodiment where there are two equal numbers, and both numbers aregreater than all other numbers in the plurality, then there are twogreatest numbers.

Where two or more terms or phrases are synonymous (e.g., because of anexplicit statement that the terms or phrases are synonymous), instancesof one such term or phrase does not mean instances of another such termor phrase must have a different meaning. For example, where a statementrenders the meaning of “including” to be synonymous with “including butnot limited to”, the mere usage of the phrase “including but not limitedto” does not mean that the term “including” means something other than“including but not limited to”.

II. Determining

The term “determining” and grammatical variants thereof (e.g., todetermine a price, determining a value, the determination of an objectwhich meets a certain criterion) is used in an extremely broad sense.The term “determining” encompasses a wide variety of actions andtherefore “determining” can include calculating, computing, processing,deriving, investigating, looking up (e.g., looking up in a table, adatabase or another data structure), ascertaining and the like. Also,“determining” can include receiving (e.g., receiving information),accessing (e.g., accessing data in a memory) and the like. Also,“determining” can include resolving, selecting, choosing, establishing,and the like.

The term “determining” does not imply certainty or absolute precision,and therefore “determining” can include estimating, extrapolating,predicting, heuristically “best guessing”, averaging and the like.

The term “determining” does not imply that mathematical processing mustbe performed, and does not imply that numerical methods must be used,and does not imply that an algorithm is used.

The term “determining” does not imply that any particular device must beused. For example, a computer need not necessarily perform thedetermining.

III. Forms of Sentences

Where a limitation of a first claim would cover one of a feature as wellas more than one of a feature (e.g., a limitation such as “at least onewidget” covers one widget as well as more than one widget), and where ina second claim that depends on the first claim, the second claim uses adefinite article “the” to refer to that limitation (e.g., “the widget”),this mere usage does not imply that the first claim covers only one ofthe feature, and this does not imply that the second claim covers onlyone of the feature (e.g., “the widget” can cover both one widget andmore than one widget).

When an ordinal number (such as “first”, “second”, “third” and so on) isused as an adjective before a term, that ordinal number is used (unlessexpressly specified otherwise) merely to indicate a particular feature,such as to distinguish that particular feature from another feature thatis described by the same term or by a similar term, but that ordinalnumber does not have any other meaning or limiting effect—it is merely aconvenient name. For example, a “first widget” may be so named merely todistinguish it from, e.g., a “second widget”. Thus, the mere usage ofthe ordinal numbers “first” and “second” before the term “widget” doesnot indicate any other relationship between the two widgets, andlikewise does not indicate any other characteristics of either or bothwidgets. For example, the mere usage of the ordinal numbers “first” and“second” before the term “widget” (1) does not indicate that eitherwidget comes before or after any other in order or location; (2) doesnot indicate that either widget occurs or acts before or after any otherin time; and (3) does not indicate that either widget ranks above orbelow any other, as in importance or quality. Thus, the mere usage ofthe ordinal number “first” does not indicate that there must be a“second”. For example, the use of the phrase “a first widget” does notimply that there be a second widget. Accordingly, it would not beambiguous or indefinite to use in a claim the term “a first widget”where no “second widget” is recited in that claim (or in any other claimit depends on). The mere usage of the ordinal number “second” or greaterordinal numbers does not indicate that there must be a “first” or anylesser ordinal number. For example, the use of the phrase “a secondplurality of widgets” does not imply that there be a first plurality ofwidgets. Accordingly, it would not be ambiguous or indefinite to use ina claim the term “a second plurality of widgets” where no “firstplurality of widgets” is recited in that claim (or in any other claim itdepends on). A term which is labeled by an ordinal number is differentthan a term that is not modified by any ordinal number. For example, ina claim a reference to “a green widget” and a reference to “a secondgreen widget” means that there are references to different widgets andthus there is no ambiguity as to whether the second green widget is oris not a reference to the green widget. The mere usage of ordinalnumbers does not define a numerical limit to the features identifiedwith the ordinal numbers. For example, the mere usage of the ordinalnumbers “first” and “second” before the term “widget” does not indicatethat there are exactly two widgets.

When a single device, article or other product is described herein, inanother embodiment more than one device or article (whether or not theycooperate) may alternatively be used in place of the single device orarticle that is described. Accordingly, the functionality that isdescribed as being possessed by a device may alternatively be possessedby more than one device or article (whether or not they cooperate) inanother embodiment.

Similarly, where more than one device, article or other product isdescribed herein (whether or not they cooperate), in another embodimenta single device or article may alternatively be used in place of themore than one device or article that is described. For example, aplurality of computer-based devices may be substituted with a singlecomputer-based device. (Conversely, a single computer-based device maybe substituted with multiple computer-based devices operating incooperation with one another.) Accordingly, the various functionalitythat is described as being possessed by more than one device or articlemay alternatively be possessed by a single device or article.

The functionality and/or the features of a single device that isdescribed may, in another embodiment, be alternatively embodied by oneor more other devices which are described but are not explicitlydescribed as having such functionality or features. Thus, otherembodiments need not include the described device itself, but rather caninclude the one or more other devices which would, in those otherembodiments, have such functionality or features.

IV. Disclosed Examples and Terminology are not Limiting

Neither the Title (set forth at the beginning of the first page of thepresent application) nor the Abstract (set forth at the end of thepresent application) is to be taken as limiting in any way the scope ofthe disclosed invention, is to be used in interpreting the meaning ofany claim or is to be used in limiting the scope of any claim. AnAbstract has been included in this application merely because anAbstract is required under 37 C.F.R. §1.72(b).

The headings of sections provided in the present application are forconvenience only, and are not to be taken as limiting the disclosure inany way.

Numerous embodiments are described in the present application, and arepresented for illustrative purposes only. The described embodiments arenot, and are not intended to be, limiting in any sense. The disclosedinventions are widely applicable to numerous embodiments, as is readilyapparent from the disclosure. One of ordinary skill in the art willrecognize that the disclosed invention may be practiced with variousmodifications and alterations, such as structural, logical, software,and electrical modifications. Although particular features of thedisclosed invention may be described with reference to one or moreparticular embodiments and/or drawings, it should be understood thatsuch features are not limited to usage in the one or more particularembodiments or drawings with reference to which they are described,unless expressly specified otherwise.

Though an embodiment may be disclosed as including several features,other embodiments of the invention may include fewer than all suchfeatures. Thus, for example, a claim may be directed to less than theentire set of features in a disclosed embodiment, and such claim wouldnot be interpreted as requiring features beyond those features that theclaim expressly recites.

No embodiment of method steps or product elements described in thepresent application constitutes the invention claimed herein, or isessential to the invention claimed herein, or is coextensive with theinvention claimed herein, except where it is either expressly stated tobe so in this specification or (with respect to a claim and theinvention defined by that claim) expressly recited in that claim.

Any preambles of the claims recite purposes, benefits and possible usesof the claimed invention only and do not limit the claimed invention.

The present disclosure is not a literal description of all embodimentsof the invention. Also, the present disclosure is not a listing offeatures of the invention which must be present in all embodiments.

All disclosed embodiments are not necessarily covered by the claims(even including all pending, amended, issued and canceled claims). Inaddition, a disclosed embodiment may be (but need not necessarily be)covered by several claims. Accordingly, where a claim (regardless ofwhether pending, amended, issued or canceled) is directed to aparticular embodiment, such is not evidence that the scope of otherclaims do not also cover that embodiment.

Devices that are described as in communication with each other need notbe in continuous communication with each other, unless expresslyspecified otherwise. On the contrary, such devices need only transmit toeach other as necessary or desirable, and may actually refrain fromexchanging data most of the time. For example, a machine incommunication with another machine via the Internet may not transmitdata to the other machine for long periods of time (e.g. weeks at atime). In addition, devices that are in communication with each othermay communicate directly or indirectly through one or moreintermediaries. Devices are in communication with one another if theyare capable of one-way communication with one another. For example, afirst device and a second device may be in communication with oneanother if the first device is capable of transmitting information tothe second device, and the second device is capable of receivinginformation from the first device.

A description of an embodiment with several components or features doesnot imply that all or even any of such components or features arerequired. On the contrary, a variety of optional components aredescribed to illustrate the wide variety of possible embodiments of thepresent invention. Unless otherwise specified explicitly, no componentor feature is essential or required.

Although process steps, algorithms or the like may be described orclaimed in a particular sequential order, such processes may beconfigured to work in different orders. In other words, any sequence ororder of steps that may be explicitly described or claimed does notnecessarily indicate a requirement that the steps be performed in thatorder. The steps of processes described herein may be performed in anyorder possible. Further, some steps may be performed simultaneouslydespite being described or implied as occurring non-simultaneously(e.g., because one step is described after the other step). Moreover,the illustration of a process by its depiction in a drawing does notimply that the illustrated process is exclusive of other variations andmodifications thereto, does not imply that the illustrated process orany of its steps are necessary to the invention, and does not imply thatthe illustrated process is preferred.

Although a process may be described as including a plurality of steps,that does not imply that all or any of the steps are preferred,essential or required. Various other embodiments within the scope of thedescribed invention include other processes that omit some or all of thedescribed steps. Unless otherwise specified explicitly, no step isessential or required.

Although a process may be described singly or without reference to otherproducts or methods, in an embodiment the process may interact withother products or methods. For example, such interaction may includelinking one business model to another business model. Such interactionmay be provided to enhance the flexibility or desirability of theprocess.

Although a product may be described as including a plurality ofcomponents, aspects, qualities, characteristics and/or features, thatdoes not indicate that any or all of the plurality are preferred,essential or required. Various other embodiments within the scope of thedescribed invention include other products that omit some or all of thedescribed plurality.

An enumerated list of items (which may or may not be numbered) does notimply that any or all of the items are mutually exclusive, unlessexpressly specified otherwise. Likewise, an enumerated list of items(which may or may not be numbered) does not imply that any or all of theitems are comprehensive of any category, unless expressly specifiedotherwise. For example, the enumerated list “a computer, a laptop, and aPDA” does not imply that any or all of the three items of that list aremutually exclusive and does not imply that any or all of the three itemsof that list are comprehensive of any category.

An enumerated list of items (which may or may not be numbered) does notimply that any or all of the items are equivalent to each other orreadily substituted for each other.

All embodiments are illustrative, and do not imply that the invention orany embodiments were made or performed, as the case may be.

V. Computing

It will be readily apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that thevarious processes described herein may be implemented by, e.g.,appropriately programmed general purpose computers, special purposecomputers and computing devices. Typically a processor (e.g., one ormore microprocessors, one or more microcontrollers, one or more digitalsignal processors) will receive instructions (e.g., from a memory orlike device), and execute those instructions, thereby performing one ormore processes defined by those instructions. Instructions may beembodied in, e.g., one or more computer programs, one or more scripts.

A “processor” means one or more microprocessors, central processingunits (CPUs), computing devices, microcontrollers, digital signalprocessors, or like devices or any combination thereof, regardless ofthe architecture (e.g., chip-level multiprocessing or multi-core, RISC,CISC, Microprocessor without Interlocked Pipeline Stages, pipeliningconfiguration, simultaneous multithreading).

A “computing device” means one or more microprocessors, centralprocessing units (CPUs), computing devices, microcontrollers, digitalsignal processors, graphics card, mobile gaming device, or like devicesor any combination thereof, regardless of the architecture (e.g.,chip-level multiprocessing or multi-core, RISC, CISC, Microprocessorwithout Interlocked Pipeline Stages, pipelining configuration,simultaneous multithreading).

Thus a description of a process is likewise a description of anapparatus for performing the process. The apparatus that performs theprocess can include, e.g., a processor and those input devices andoutput devices that are appropriate to perform the process. For example,a description of a process is a description of an apparatus comprising aprocessor and memory that stores a program comprising instructions that,when executed by the processor, direct the processor to perform theprocess.

A computer readable medium can be in communication with a processor suchthat the processor can receive some or all of the instructions stored onthe computer readable medium. Likewise the processor can execute some orall of the instructions stored on the computer readable medium, and canexecute different instructions at different times.

Further, programs that implement such methods (as well as other types ofdata) may be stored and transmitted using a variety of media (e.g.,computer readable media) in a number of manners. In some embodiments,hard-wired circuitry or custom hardware may be used in place of, or incombination with, some or all of the software instructions that canimplement the processes of various embodiments. Thus, variouscombinations of hardware and software may be used instead of softwareonly.

The term “computer-readable medium” refers to any medium, a plurality ofthe same, or a combination of different media, that participate inproviding data (e.g., instructions, data structures) which may be readby a computer, a processor or a like device. Such a medium may take manyforms, including but not limited to, non-volatile media, volatile media,and transmission media. Non-volatile media include, for example, opticalor magnetic disks and other persistent memory. Volatile media includedynamic random access memory (DRAM), which typically constitutes themain memory. Transmission media include coaxial cables, copper wire andfiber optics, including the wires that comprise a system bus coupled tothe processor. Transmission media may include or convey acoustic waves,light waves and electromagnetic emissions, such as those generatedduring radio frequency (RF) and infrared (IR) data communications.Common forms of computer-readable media include, for example, a floppydisk, a flexible disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, any other magneticmedium, a CD-ROM, DVD, any other optical medium, punch cards, papertape, any other physical medium with patterns of holes, a RAM, a PROM,an EPROM, a FLASH-EEPROM, any other memory chip or cartridge, a carrierwave as described hereinafter, or any other medium from which a computercan read.

The term “tangible computer-readable medium” refers to a“computer-readable medium” that comprises a hardware component, such asoptical or magnetic disks, semiconductor memory (e.g., RAM, ROM, flashdrives, semiconductor hard drives). Therefore, for example, a tangiblecomputer-readable medium is not a carrier wave or an RF transmission.

Various forms of computer readable media may be involved in carryingdata (e.g. sequences of instructions) to a processor. For example, datamay be (i) delivered from RAM to a processor; (ii) carried over awireless transmission medium; (iii) formatted and/or transmittedaccording to numerous formats, standards or protocols, such as Ethernet(or IEEE 802.3), SAP, ATP, Bluetooth, and TCPorIP, TDMA, CDMA, and 3G;and/or (iv) encrypted to ensure privacy or prevent fraud in any of avariety of ways well known in the art.

A “user interface” is ‘used by’ a device, such as a computing device, toprovide outputs to a user and to receive inputs from a user. Forexample, the user interface may direct the device to display (orotherwise provide) certain outputs (as defined by the user interface),and allow inputs to be received from the user via the device. In anembodiment, in order for the device to generate the user interface, thedevice executes certain instructions, e.g., instructions to output dataand receive data as inputs. A user interface can include one or moreoutput controls which output data and/or one or more input controlswhich allow data to be received. A type of input control allows aselection of an option from among a plurality of options, and may allowonly one option to be selected, may allow one or more options to beselected, may allow that a predetermined number of options are selected,may allow that no options are selected. An input control may define theformat of type of input that may be entered. A control may function asboth an input control and as an output control.

A description of different capabilities of a user interface (e.g., bydescribing different embodiments of a user interface, by describingdifferent things that a user interface can do) does not mean that in allembodiments the user interface must include all such describedcapabilities. On the contrary, such description also supports anembodiment in which, e.g., a user interface has only one of thedescribed capabilities, and supports an embodiment in which a userinterface has a particular combination of less than all of the describedcapabilities.

A description of a process is likewise a description of acomputer-readable medium storing a program for performing the process.The computer-readable medium can store (in any appropriate format) thoseprogram elements which are appropriate to perform the method. Forexample, a description of a process is a description of acomputer-readable storage medium that stores a program comprisinginstructions that, when executed by a processor, direct the processor toperform the method.

Just as the description of various steps in a process does not indicatethat all the described steps are required, embodiments of an apparatusinclude a computer or computing device operable to perform some (but notnecessarily all) of the described process.

Likewise, just as the description of various steps in a process does notindicate that all the described steps are required, embodiments of acomputer-readable medium storing a program or data structure include acomputer-readable medium storing a program that, when executed, cancause a processor to perform some (but not necessarily all) of thedescribed process.

Where databases are described, it will be understood by one of ordinaryskill in the art that (i) alternative database structures to thosedescribed may be readily employed, and (ii) other memory structuresbesides databases may be readily employed. Any illustrations ordescriptions of any sample databases presented herein are illustrativearrangements for stored representations of information. Any number ofother arrangements may be employed besides those suggested by, e.g.,tables illustrated in drawings or elsewhere. Similarly, any illustratedentries of the databases represent exemplary information only; one ofordinary skill in the art will understand that the number and content ofthe entries can be different from those described herein. Further,despite any depiction of the databases as tables, other formats(including relational databases, object-based models and/or distributeddatabases) could be used to store and manipulate the data typesdescribed herein. Likewise, object methods or behaviors of a databasecan be used to implement various processes, such as those describedherein. In addition, the databases may, in a known manner, be storedlocally or remotely from a device which accesses data in such adatabase.

Various embodiments can be configured to work in a network environmentincluding a computer that is in communication (e.g., via acommunications network) with one or more devices. The computer maycommunicate with the devices directly or indirectly, via any wired orwireless medium (e.g. the Internet, LAN, WAN or Ethernet, Token Ring, atelephone line, a cable line, a radio channel, an optical communicationsline, commercial on-line service providers, bulletin board systems, asatellite communications link, a combination of any of the above). Eachof the devices may themselves comprise computers or other computingdevices, such as those based on the Intel® Pentium® or Centrino™processor, that are adapted to communicate with the computer. Any numberand type of devices may be in communication with the computer.

In an embodiment, a server computer or centralized authority may not benecessary or desirable. For example, the present invention may, in anembodiment, be practiced on one or more devices without a centralauthority. In such an embodiment, any functions described herein asperformed by the server computer or data described as stored on theserver computer may instead be performed by or stored on one or moresuch devices.

Where a process is described, in an embodiment the process may operatewithout any user intervention. In another embodiment, the processincludes some human intervention (e.g., a step is performed by or withthe assistance of a human).

VI. Continuing Applications

The present disclosure provides, to one of ordinary skill in the art, anenabling description of several embodiments and/or inventions. Some ofthese embodiments and/or inventions may not be claimed in the presentapplication, but may nevertheless be claimed in one or more continuingapplications that claim the benefit of priority of the presentapplication.

Applicants intend to file additional applications to pursue patents forsubject matter that has been disclosed and enabled but not claimed inthe present application.

VII. 35 U.S.C. §112, paragraph 6

In a claim, a limitation of the claim which includes the phrase “meansfor” or the phrase “step for” means that 35 U.S.C. §112, paragraph 6,applies to that limitation.

In a claim, a limitation of the claim which does not include the phrase“means for” or the phrase “step for” means that 35 U.S.C. §112,paragraph 6 does not apply to that limitation, regardless of whetherthat limitation recites a function without recitation of structure,material or acts for performing that function. For example, in a claim,the mere use of the phrase “step of” or the phrase “steps of” inreferring to one or more steps of the claim or of another claim does notmean that 35 U.S.C. §112, paragraph 6, applies to that step(s).

With respect to a means or a step for performing a specified function inaccordance with 35 U.S.C. §112, paragraph 6, the correspondingstructure, material or acts described in the specification, andequivalents thereof, may perform additional functions as well as thespecified function.

Computers, processors, computing devices and like products arestructures that can perform a wide variety of functions. Such productscan be operable to perform a specified function by executing one or moreprograms, such as a program stored in a memory device of that product orin a memory device which that product accesses. Unless expresslyspecified otherwise, such a program need not be based on any particularalgorithm, such as any particular algorithm that might be disclosed inthe present application. It is well known to one of ordinary skill inthe art that a specified function may be implemented via differentalgorithms, and any of a number of different algorithms would be a meredesign choice for carrying out the specified function.

Therefore, with respect to a means or a step for performing a specifiedfunction in accordance with 35 U.S.C. §112, paragraph 6, structurecorresponding to a specified function includes any product programmed toperform the specified function. Such structure includes programmedproducts which perform the function, regardless of whether such productis programmed with (i) a disclosed algorithm for performing thefunction, (ii) an algorithm that is similar to a disclosed algorithm, or(iii) a different algorithm for performing the function.

Where there is recited a means for performing a function that is amethod, one structure for performing this method includes a computingdevice (e.g., a general purpose computer) that is programmed and/orconfigured with appropriate hardware to perform that function.

Also included is a computing device (e.g., a general purpose computer)that is programmed and/or configured with appropriate hardware toperform that function via other algorithms as would be understood by oneof ordinary skill in the art.

VIII. Disclaimer

Numerous references to a particular embodiment do not indicate adisclaimer or disavowal, from the scope of the invention, of additional,different embodiments, and similarly references to the description ofembodiments which all include a particular feature do not indicate adisclaimer or disavowal of embodiments which do not include thatparticular feature. A clear disclaimer or disavowal in the presentapplication will explicitly refer to the scope of the invention asdisclaiming or disavowing certain subject matter and will also beprefaced by a phrase such as “does not include” or “cannot perform”.

IX. Incorporation by Reference

Any patent, patent application or other document referred to herein isincorporated by reference into this patent application as part of thepresent disclosure, but only for purposes of written description andenablement in accordance with 35 U.S.C. §112, paragraph 1, and should inno way be used to limit, define, or otherwise construe any term of thepresent application, unless without such incorporation by reference, noordinary meaning would have been ascertainable by a person of ordinaryskill in the art. Conversely, the definitions and other subject matterexplicitly set forth in this application should not be used to limit,define, or otherwise construe any term of any document incorporatedherein by reference. Nothing explicitly set forth in this applicationshould be interpreted as an admission or characterization of any priorart to this application.

Any incorporation by reference does not, in and of itself, imply anyendorsement of, ratification of or acquiescence in any statements,opinions, arguments or characterizations contained in any incorporatedpatent, patent application or other document, unless explicitlyspecified otherwise in this patent application.

X. Prosecution History

In interpreting the present application (which includes the claims), oneof ordinary skill in the art refers to the prosecution history of thepresent application, but not to the prosecution history of any otherpatent or patent application, regardless of whether there are otherpatent applications that are considered related to the presentapplication, and regardless of whether there are other patentapplications that share a claim of priority with the presentapplication.

XI. Additional Embodiments

Players commonly access online games through a network such as theInternet, and may or may not be required to purchase additional softwareor hardware in order to play the game. Massive multi player online games(MMOGs) or massive multi-player role-playing games (MMORPGs) arecomputer games that are capable of supporting hundreds, thousands, ormillions of players simultaneously. Typically, these types of game areplayed in a giant persistent world where the game continues playingregardless of whether or not real players are logged in. Such networksallow for people all over the world to participate and interact witheach other in a virtual environment. The present disclosure providessystems and methods which contribute to the evolution and longevity ofsuch a game.

Virtual Environments which are accessible to multiple subscribers via aserver are known. For example, hundreds of thousands of players accessgames known as massive multi player online games (MMOGs). Players ofthese games customarily access a game repeatedly (for durationstypically ranging from a few minutes to several days) over given periodof time, which may be days, weeks, months or even years. The games areoften constructed such that players pay a periodic subscription price(e.g., $15 per month) rather than, or in addition to, paying a one timepurchase price for the game. Often, though not necessarily, these gameshave no ultimate “winner” or “winning goal,” but instead attempt tocreate an enjoyable playing environment and a strong player community.Virtual communities like Linden Lab's “Second Life” provide athree-dimensional metaverse in which people (who may or may not pay afee for the right to access the metaverse) create avatars that are ableto interact with other avatars as well as the local environment.

According to one or more embodiments, the present invention provides ametaverse in which two or more entities are able to create formalizedrelationships with each other. In this embodiment, a relationship mayenable the two or more entities to undertake obligations and/or receivebenefits that are not available to entities that have not formed suchrelationships. Non-limiting examples of relationships that might beavailable in a metaverse include: marriage, parent/child, slave/master,affair, enchanter/enchanted, boss/employee, gods/worshipers, governmentofficials, sports teams/coaches, guilds, general/army, friend-friend,group leader-group member and the like. Each type of relationship mayinclude its own set of obligations and benefits which are different fromother types of relationships.

A “game” as used herein need not be a “game” in the traditional sense ofa competition in which a winner and/or loser is determined, but ratherthat the term “game” incorporates the idea of the metaverse regardlessof the intended purpose. Accordingly, both World of Warcraft and SecondLife would be referred to as games for the purposes of the presentdisclosure. Moreover, a person or entity who enters the metaverse inorder to conduct business, tour the metaverse, or simply interact withothers or the virtual environment, with or without competing againstanother entity is still considered to be “playing a game.”

The term “player” is intended to describe any entity that accesses themetaverse, regardless of whether or not the player intends to or iscapable of competing against other players. Typically, a player willregister an account with a Video Game Central Server or within apeer-to-peer network and create Characters that can interact with otherCharacters in a Video Game Environment.

Character—may include a persona created by a player in a metaverse.

Avatar—may include the physical embodiment of a character in themetaverse.

Character Account—may include an account that tracks characterattributes.

Character Attribute—may include any quality, trait, feature orcharacteristic a particular Character can have that is stored in thecorresponding Character Account. Character Attributes may include, butare not limited to: 1. A character score 2. A virtual object 3. Thephysical appearance of a character 4. An emblem or mark 5. A syntheticvoice 6. Virtual money 7. Virtual help points or credits 8. The abilityto join groups of other players at a later time 9. A score forsubsequent matching of later game parameters 10. A relationship withanother character 11. A genetic profile or makeup

Character Life—may include a fixed period of virtual or real world timethat a player character can exist in a game environment.

Character Skills—may include game attributes inherent or acquired by aplayer character during game play such as, but not limited to: theability to cast certain spells, foretell the future, read minds, usecertain weapons, cook, hunt, find herbs, assemble herbs into potions,mine, assemble objects into other objects, fly, and/or enchant otherplayer characters.

Non-Player Character (NPC) or Computer Generated Character (CGC)—mayinclude any character that is generated by the system rather than beinganother player character.

Game Parameter—may include any part of a metaverse experience by whichcharacters can be measured. Game Parameters may include, but are not belimited to: 12. Completing all or part of a mission in a game 13.Playing for a certain period of time 14. Winning a match against anotherplayer character or computer generated character 15. Reaching a certainlevel or score 16. using or obtaining an ability or technology 17.kill/death ratios 18. obtaining an object 19. solving a puzzle 20.accuracy with weapons 21. effective use of the proper weapon 22. killinga certain character/creature 23. getting through or to a certaingeographic area 24. decreasing or increasing Karma Points 25. getting,buying, exchanging or learning a new skill or player attribute 26.having a child 27. getting married 28. obtaining, buying, trading,producing or developing raw materials 29. producing goods or services30. earning income 31. earning a higher rank in an army 32. winning anelection among two or more player characters 33. achieving deity status34. improving player character status or caste 35. assisting otherplayer characters with any of the above 36. speed of accomplishing anyof the above

Virtual Contract—may include an enforceable agreement between twoentities in a metaverse. Some examples of virtual contracts are providedin U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/652,036, which ishereby incorporated by reference in its entirety for all purposes.

Player to Player Contract—may include a virtual but binding contractbetween player characters that allows the players to provide or exchangegame attributes to one another. Once a player-to-player contract isestablished, the game server or peer-to-peer network automaticallydistributes acquired game attributes between the player characters basedon the contract conditions.

Billing Information—may include any information pertaining to billing aplayer including a billing address, credit card account, bank account,pay pal account or other payment information.

In-game Marketplace—may include a virtual environment where Characterscan exchange Attributes.

Novice Player—may include a player that is flagged as requiring the helpof an expert to complete a Game Parameter.

Player Account—may include an account on the Video Game Central Serveror within a peer-to-peer network that contains a Player profileincluding personal, billing, and character account information.

Player Attribute—may include any attribute that can be applied to aplayer account. Player Attributes shall include, but not be limited to:37. Real Money 38. Discount of monthly fees for playing game 39. Monthlyfee for playing a game 40. Global character attribute settings for allcharacters created by player across multiple games. 41. Rewards forencouraging another player to signup to play

Virtual—implies in a computer-generated environment or other intangiblespace.

Metaverse—includes a collection of online virtual environments which areaccessible to one or more players of one or more online games orcommunities. Areas of a metaverse may be restricted to some players.Examples include Massive Multi Player Online Video Game (MMPOVGs) suchas World of Warcraft and virtual communities such as Second Life.MMPOVGs (sometimes referred to as Massive Multi Player Online RolePlaying Games MMPORPGs) include video games and virtual environmentsthat are provided by and accessed with either a network of a Video GameCentral Server and at least two Video Game Consuls or a peer-to-peernetwork of at least two Video Game Consuls. Players create Characters,or avatars, that may interact with each other in a Metaverse that isstored on the Video Game Central Server and the Video Game Consuls.

Video Game Console—may include a device comprising a CPU, memory andoptional permanent storage residing at a player location that can allowfor the playing of video games. Examples include, home PCs, MicrosoftXbox, and Sony Playstation.

Video Game Central Server—may include a CPU, memory and permanent ortemporary storage that is connected to multiple Video Game Consuls thatallows for Massive Multi Player Online Video Games to be played.

Virtual or Game environment—may include a region, sub-region or area ofa metaverse such as a country, city, era, building, etc., which is insome way recognizably different from another region, sub-region, or areaof the metaverse.

As stated above, the present disclosure provides numerous methods andsystems in which players can form, enter into, and terminate formalizedrelationships with each other and various entities, including non-playercharacters, in a metaverse. The game server may provide any number ofmethods by which characters can formalize their relationships.Non-limiting methods by which a formalized in-game relationship can beformed include: 42. An in-game negotiated virtual contract between twoplayer characters. Examples of virtual contracts are described, forexample, in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/355,232 “Online GameEnvironment that Facilitates Binding Contracts Between PlayerCharacters” filed Feb. 14, 2006, and Ser. No. 11/611,050 “Online GameEnvironment that Facilitates Sponsorship Contracts” filed Dec. 14, 2006,both of which are hereby incorporated by reference. 43. Atrandom—characters may be randomly assigned relationships by the gameserver, other characters, other players, or by some other means. 44.Based on proscribed rules designed and/or controlled by the game server,game players, peer-to-peer network, or some other entity. For example,the rules of the game server may indicate that any two characters whocomplete a particular task together must marry each other at theconclusion of the task. Alternatively or additionally, the rules mayspecify that any time a new player character is created in the game, oneor more relationships are automatically established by the game server,or within the peer-to-peer network between the new character andexisting characters in the game. For example, new characters may only beable to enter the game as children of characters already in the game.Accordingly, a character who enters the game would automatically be in arelationship with his or her parents, and any existing siblings orextended family members.

When and if an entity can enter into a formalized relationship may bedetermined by any number of conditions or requirements. These conditionsand/or requirements may be based on a wide variety of factors including,for example, the type of entity entering into the relationship. Forexample, the type of relationship(s) that can be formed between twoplayer characters may be different from the relationship(s) that can beformed between a player character and an NPC. Moreover, the roles thateach entity may take in the relationship may be similarly determined bythe type of entity entering into the relationship. For example, an NPCmay be able to enter into a Parent/Child relationship as a child, butnot as a parent, while a player character may be able to enter into amaster/slave relationship as a master, but not as a slave.

Other conditions and/or requirements may be based on one or morephysical characteristics of the entity entering into the relationship.For example, in one particularly metaverse, only characters that belongto a wizard race may be allowed to enter into an enchanter/enchantedrelationship as an enchanter. Similarly, perhaps only humans, elves, andwerewolves are subject to enchantment. Furthermore, a particularmetaverse may include requirements where characters must reach a certainage before they can marry.

Other conditions and or/requirements may be based on other factors suchownership of certain items, skills, experience or wealth, past playinghistory such as level(s) reached or experience gained, previous orcurrent relationships or the like. For example, a character may only beallowed to form a parent/child relationship as a parent if the characteris married. Alternatively, a character may only be allowed to be a coachin a sports team/coach relationship if the character has previously beena member of a sports team. As another example a character may only beallowed to enter into a government official/constituency relationship asa government official if the character has gained a certain level ofwealth and “politician skill points.” As a further example, a charactermay have to acquire a certain amount or type of land to enter into amaster/slave relationship as a master. As a still further example, acharacter may need to reach a given advanced level in the game beforebecoming a God in a god/worshiper relationship. As another example, afirst character may only be allowed to become a friend of a secondcharacter if the first and second characters already have one or morefriends in common, such that the first character and the secondcharacter each have the same or corresponding relationship with a thirdcharacter.

Alternatively or additionally, the number and/or type of relationshipsthat a given or particular character may enter into may be limited. Forexample, all or some characters in the game may be limited to formingonly a certain number of relationships. A character may be limited to acertain number of relationships at any one time, or the total number ofrelationships a character can form may be limited. Furthermore, suchlimitations may vary from character to character based on any number offactors or characteristics including, but not limited to, pastexperience in the game, previous number of relationships, wealth, race,satisfaction of previous relatives, etc.

Moreover, entry into some types of relationships may preclude entry intoother types of relationships. For example, a sorcerer who has enchantedanother player may be prohibited from entering into aworshiper/worshipee relationship. Such preclusion may be final, or mayexist only for so long as the precluding relationship lasts.

Some requirements, such as those described in the examples above, may berelationship-specific. However, some or all of the requirements mayapply to any player character wishing to enter into a relationship. Forexample, all player characters may have to reach a certain level in agame, complete a certain task, accumulate a certain item or skill, orfulfill a certain requirement in order to enter into a relationship.

As stated above, entry into a formalized relationship may provide acharacter with benefits and/or obligations that may not be available tocharacters who have not entered into the formalized relationship. Forexample, as explained above, a character may be required to have enteredinto a marriage relationship in order to enter into a parent/childrelationship as a parent. Accordingly, only characters that have enteredinto a marriage relationship may receive the benefit (and/or obligation)of being a parent. As an alternative example, a game may require that acharacter can only complete a mission, reach a given level, obtain acertain item or learn a certain skill if they have entered into arelationship, the type of which may or may not be specified. Forexample, a player character may be required to have a spouse and atleast one child before being able to run for mayor of a city.

Other examples of benefits from entering into relationships include thetransfer of character attributes from one party in the relationship tothe other. For example, a master may receive some or all of thecharacter attributes generated by his slaves, children may inheritattributes of their parents, pet owners may start to look like theirpets (or vice versa), the spouse of a doctor may have increased healthpoints, etc. Furthermore, a first character who has a relationship witha second character may be able to provide an advantage (or disadvantage)to the second character that the first character would not normally beable to provide absent the relationship. For example, in adoctor/patient relationship, the doctor character may be able toshorten, lengthen, or restart the life of the patient character.

Relationships may be permanent or temporary. For example, relationshipssuch as enchanter/enchanted or possessor/possessee may be limited by anynumber of factors including, for example, the passage of real-time, thepassage of virtual time, or presence or absence of some other factor(s),such as an item, character, event, etc.

Similarly, the benefits and/or obligations provided by a relationshipmay also be permanent or temporary. For example, a player character maybe required to have a spouse before being able to run for mayor of acity may be able to stay mayor even if the marriage is dissolved or thechild character dies (in other words, the familial relationship may haveended, but the benefit of having been in a familial relationship maycontinue). Alternatively, some benefits may be removed, or subject toremoval upon termination of a relationship. For example, an undeadcharacter may be given the characteristics of a living character foronly so long as he possesses a living character.

As stated above, termination of a relationship may be the result of anynumber of factors. Non-limiting examples of circumstances under which arelationship may end include: 45. Termination by a party in therelationship—one or more parties to the relationship may be given theability to sever the relationship. For example, one or more parties in amarriage may have the right to obtain a divorce, an enchanter may beable to utter a counterspell, or a team coach may quit. Such terminationmay or may not require the consent of the other party or parties in therelationship. 46. Cancellation of a game account—if a player cancels hisgame account, the server may be configured to terminate anyrelationships that have been made with a player character controlled bythe player. 47. Termination due to lack of or limited activity—theserver may be configured to terminate any relationships that have beenmade with a player character who has not logged enough play time over agiven period of time. For example, it may be determined that it isdetrimental to player characters to be in relationships with characterswho are never around, accordingly, the server may be configured tomonitor play time and automatically terminate relationships when a givencharacter's playtime is below a certain threshold. Alternatively, suchtermination may not be automatic, but may be requested by or on behalfof a character who is harmed by the lack of playtime by a relativecharacter. 48. Mutual ascent—the game server may be configured toterminate a relationship whenever all of the characters in therelationship agree to termination. A request for termination may be madeby one or more parties to the relationship and the server may or may notbe configured to try to obtain assent from any outstanding member(s).49. Establishment of a conflicting relationship—when a character entersinto a new relationship that conflicts with a prior relationship, thegame server may be configured to automatically terminate the priorrelationship. For example, a given sorcerer may only be allowed toenchant one NPC. If a sorcerer who has already enchanted a first NPCattempts to enchant a second NPC, the enchanter/enchantee relationshipwith the first NPC may be automatically terminated. Such termination mayor may not be preceded by a warning or some type of indication that arelationship will soon be severed. 50. Upon the occurrence, ornon-occurrence, of a predetermined event, such as the passage of time,completion of a task, presence or absence of an object, etc. Thepredetermined event itself as well as the likelihood and/or imminence ofthe occurrence or non-occurrence may or may not be known to some or allof the parties to the relationship. 51. Upon payment or non-payment—acharacter may be able or required to terminate a relationship by payingor receiving payment or not paying or not receiving payment from anothercharacter. Payment may be in the form of currency (real or virtual),attributes, items, knowledge, data, or the like. Such payment ornon-payment options may or may not be known to some or all of theparties in the relationship.

Referring to FIG. 1, a network system 10 according to one embodimentincludes a central server 20 in communication with a plurality of videogame playing units 18. Those of ordinary skill in the art willappreciate that any number of video game playing units may be incommunication with the central server. Typically, the number of videogame playing units changes at various times as players join games and asplayers stop playing games. Similarly, more than one server may operateto coordinate the activities of the video game playing units, as is wellknown in the art.

Central server 20 may comprise any computing device (e.g., one or morecomputers) capable of communicating with other computing devices. Theserver 20 typically comprises a processor which is in communication witha storage device, such as an appropriate combination of RAM, ROM, harddisk, and other well known storage media. Central server 20 may compriseone or more personal computers, web servers, dedicated game servers,video game consoles, any combination of the foregoing, or the like.

Each video game device 18 may comprise any device capable ofcommunicating with central server 20, providing video game informationto a player, and transmitting the player's desired actions to thecentral server. Each video game device typically comprises a processorwhich is in communication with a storage device, such as an appropriatecombination of RAM, ROM, hard disk, and other well known storage media.Suitable video game devices include, but are not limited to, personalcomputers, video game consoles, mobile phones, and personal dataassistants (PDAs).

Some or all of video game 17 can be stored on central server 20.Alternatively, some or all of video game 17 may be stored on theindividual video game devices 18. Typically, the video game devices areable to communicate with one another. Such communication may or may notbe facilitated by central server 20. Accordingly, a player 19 aaccessing video game 17 via game device 18 a may be able to play with aplayer 19 b accessing video game 17 via game device 18 b. As shown, itmay be possible for multiple players (e.g. 19 c, 19 d) to access centralserver 20 via the same game device (e.g. 18 c).

Regardless of whether video game 17 is stored on central server 20 orvideo game devices 18, server 20 is typically configured to facilitateplay of the game between multiple game players.

Those having skill in the art will recognize that there is littledistinction between hardware and software implementations. The use ofhardware or software is generally a choice of convenience or designbased on the relative importance of speed, accuracy, flexibility andpredictability. There are therefore various vehicles by which processesand/or systems described herein can be effected (e.g., hardware,software, and/or firmware) and that the preferred vehicle will vary withthe context in which the technologies are deployed.

At least a portion of the devices and/or processes described herein canbe integrated into a data processing system with a reasonable amount ofexperimentation. Those having skill in the art will recognize that atypical data processing system generally includes one or more of asystem unit housing, a video display device, memory, processors,operating systems, drivers, graphical user interfaces, and applicationprograms, interaction devices such as a touch pad or screen, and/orcontrol systems including feedback loops and control motors. A typicaldata processing system may be implemented utilizing any suitablecommercially available components to create the gaming environmentdescribed herein.

Turning now to FIG. 2, an exemplary system diagram is shown. It will beappreciated that a system configured to perform the various functionsdescribed herein may be configured in myriad ways and that anyembodiment depicted or described in the current disclosure should beviewed only as an example of a system that could be used. Accordingly,for ease of understanding, various programs and databases are referredto by names that inform the reader as to the type of function aparticular program could perform within the system. However, it will beappreciated that such functions could, in actuality, be performed by oneor more programs operating independently or cooperatively and, moreover,that multiple or all described functions could be performed by a singleprogram. Furthermore, it will be appreciated that a particular systemmay incorporate some, but not all, of the described programs anddatabases and could similarly incorporate additional programs ordatabases that are not described.

Accordingly, the system 200 in FIG. 2 includes: 52. Game EnvironmentProgram 202, which may be configured to provide and manage the virtualenvironment or virtual world described herein. 53. Billing Program 204,which may be configured to manage the various mechanisms by whichplayers are able to purchase and pay for time spent playing the game orotherwise interacting with the virtual environment. 54. CharacterRelationship Program 206, which may be configured to provide and managethe relationships formed between various characters in the virtualenvironment. This program may include rules regarding the variousbenefits and obligations associated with each type of relationship thatis allowed in the game environment, enforce obligations (or penalties),and bestow benefits. 55. Character Profile and Management Program 208,which may be configured to manage the various attributes, relationships,and actions of the characters in the virtual environment.

Furthermore, system 200 may includes a plurality of databases such as:

Player Database 210, which may be configured to store player-relateddata such as, but not necessarily limited to: 56. Player GUID 57. PlayerBilling Info 58. Player Characters 1-N 59. Account Type

Character Database 212, which may be configured to store character (oravatar)—related data such as, but not necessarily limited to: 60. PlayerGUID 61. Character GUID 62. Character Attributes 1-n 63. CharacterSkills 1-n with Current Level 1-n 64. Character Relationship(s) 1-n(tree) 65. Relationship Type(s) 1-n

Relationship Type Database 214, which may be configured to store datarelated to the various types of relationships that are available in thegame environment. Suitable data includes, but is not necessarily limitedto: 66. Relationship Type ID 67. Relationship Type Name 68. RelationshipType Conditions/Restrictions 1-n

Relationship Contract Database 216, which may be configured to storedata related to the specific relationship contracts that have beencreated in the game. Suitable data includes, but is not necessarilylimited to: 69. Relationship Contract ID 70. Relationship Character 1-n(tree) 71. Relationship Conditions 1-n

Player Character Family Tree Database 218, which may be configured totrack the various relationships and inter-relationships between multiplecharacters in the game environment. Suitable data includes, but is notnecessarily related to: 72. Player Character ID 73. Player CharacterRelationship 1-n (tree)

It will be appreciated, that the systems described herein will beconfigured to perform various methods in order to provide the uniquevirtual environment experiences described herein.

FIG. 3 and the following description provides one specific generalmethod that might be employed by a system such as that described herein.At step 302, the method includes providing a virtual environment whichis accessible by a plurality of players. As described in detail above,the environment may be accessible via a game system such as that shownin FIG. 1. According to an exemplary embodiment, players may interactwith each other and the environment by controlling avatars. Thosefamiliar with video games and virtual environments will be familiar withavatars as well as the various methods by which avatars may be createdand controlled in a virtual environment. Typically, avatars are theproducts of one or more computer programs that may be created andprovided by the game manufacturer. In some games player may select frombetween several different avatars. Furthermore, some games will allowfor personalization of an avatar by a player. Still further, some gamesallow for the design and creation of an avatar by a player or thirdparty.

At step 304, the method includes determining that a first playercharacter is qualified to enter into a formalized relationship with asecond character. The second character may be a player character or anon-player character (NPC). The qualifications necessary to enter into aformalized relationship typically depend upon the specific type ofrelationship that the character intends to enter into. Any givenqualification may be one sided, such that only one player in therelationship need meet the qualification, or universal, meaning that allplayers in the relationship must meet the qualification. Furthermore,different relationships may require different qualifications fordifferent parties. Exemplary relationships and qualifications for entryinto those relationships are described in greater detail below.

At step 306, the method includes acknowledging that the characters haveentered into a formalized relationship. Such acknowledgement may simplytake the form of entering the existence of the relationship in arelationship database, such as database 216. Acknowledgement may alsotake the form of a permanent or temporary alteration of the appearanceor other characteristic of an avatar that may or may not be noticeableto one or more characters in the virtual environment. For example, amarried avatar may be shown with a ring on a finger. The ring may bevisible to only the players controlling the married characters, or toall characters in the virtual environment.

At step 308, the method includes determining any obligations andbenefits associated with the formalized relationship. Variousobligations and benefits that may be associated with variousrelationships are described in detail below. Such obligations andbenefits may be maintained, for example, in a database such as database214. According to one embodiment, upon entry into a formalizedrelationship, the character accounts of each character in therelationship may be updated to reflect the various obligations andbenefits associated with the relationship.

At step 310, the method includes monitoring the actions of thecharacters in the relationship and distributing benefits associated withthe formalized relationship, as appropriate. For example, if aparticular relationship requires that a first player character in therelationship receive a percentage of the strength points earned by thesecond player character, in the relationship, the system should beconfigured such that as strength points are earned by the second player,the required percentage of strength points are transferred to the firstplayer character.

At step 312, the method includes monitoring the actions of thecharacters in the relationship and accessing a penalty if one of thecharacters in the relationship fails to fulfill an obligation associatedwith the relationship. For example, a particular type of relationshipmay require that one of the players aid another player in battle. If theplayer refuses to aid the other player, the system may be configured toassess a penalty. Examples of penalties include, but are not limited to,financial penalties, termination of the relationship, removal from thegame, barrier from progression in the game, etc. The game may beconfigured such that a specific, predetermined, penalty is assessed fora given infraction. Alternatively, the game server or other entity, e.g.a tribunal of peer characters, may be provided with a list of penaltiesfrom which a given penalty may be selected specifically or at random.

Alternatively or additionally, system 200 may be configured to determineeligibility to form a relationship by performing the following steps:74. Retrieve Player Character attributes 1-n. These character attributesmay be retrieved, for example, from database 212. 75. Determine ifattributes qualify for a relationship. This may be performed, forexample, by comparing the character attributes in database 212 with therelationship conditions identified in database 214. 76. If attributesqualify for a relationship, flag character account as eligible for arelationship 77. Output relationship availability to player character.This may be performed, for example, by providing a text message, popupwindow, audible message or other indication to the player that theplayer character can enter into the desired relationship.

According to another method, system 200 may be configured to create acontract to establish relationship by performing the following steps:78. Retrieve a request to form a relationship contract. For example, aplayer may be able to access a user interface in which the player canindicate information such as, though not necessarily limited to, thetype of relationship to be entered, the other parties with whom therelationship will be entered, and the terms of the relationship. Ofcourse it will be appreciated that according to different embodimentsand different types of relationships, some or all of these items may bepredetermined. Alternatively, or additionally, a request may take theform of an action performed by a character. For example, a character whowins a battle may automatically be perceived to have requested toenslave the population of the losing side of the battle. 79. Outputrelationship contract parameters. The contract parameters may include,for example, the parties and the conditions associated with therelationship. This information may be actively delivered to one or moreparties in the relationship, for example, via a popup window, textmessage, audible signal, or the like. Alternatively such information maybe made available in a special screen or area to which a player maynavigate at his or her leisure. According to various embodiments, one ormore parties in the relationship may have the ability to accept,decline, or modify one or more contract parameters or the contractaltogether. 80. Receive relationship contract conditions. If conditionsare provided by the parties to the relationship (or any third party)these conditions may be added to any conditions that are automaticallyincluded or required by the game server. 81. Create new relationshipcontract record. For example, the existence of the relationship and theconditions identified therein may be indicated in each party's characterdatabase 212, and/or relationship contract database 216. Furthermore,player character family tree database 218 may be updated.

In an embodiment, a module (e.g., accessible in the video game) permitsa player to specify the “completion” of a task that defines anobligation under a contract. For example, the module can provide agraphical user interface (or other interface) that lets the obligationbe defined. For example, the user interface can allow a player to selectthe obligation type (e.g., “deliver an in-game item”), select whatin-game item must be delivered, and select to who (e.g., to whichcharacter) it must be delivered.

Obligations can also have meta-characteristics. For example, the userinterface can permit a player to select whether there is a deadline forthe obligation (e.g., click the DEADLINE radio button in the userinterface), and select the deadline type. For example, deadline typesmay include “Specific Date” (which provides the player with a calendarfrom which the player selects the date), “Within the next X hours ofgame play” (which provides a box where the player can enter a number ofdays/hours/minutes/seconds), “Before the occurrence of another in-gameevent” (which provides a user interface allowing the player to select anin-game event type), “within the next X days of the occurrence ofanother in-game event” (which provides a user interface allowing theplayer to select an in-game event type and a number ofdays/hours/minutes/seconds).

A similar user interface can be used to permit players to modifyobligations (e.g., in a counter offer to a proposal for contract). Asimilar user interface can be used to permit players to enter otherobligations.

Alternatively or additionally, system 200 may be configured to form arelationship by performing the following steps: 82. Retrieve a requestto view relationship contracts. Various relationship contracts may bemade available to members of the virtual community via a message board,exchange, specialized website or web page, etc. A request to viewrelationship contracts may take the form of accessing a specific area ofthe game environment, a specialized user-interface, or sending a messageusing any known means to the game server, a third party, a member of thecommunity, etc. 83. Determine relationship contracts availability basedon player character account and relationship contract conditions. Forexample, a particular player character may only be allowed to viewavailable relationship contracts for which that particular playercharacter is eligible. For example, if a player character is a dwarf anddwarves are only allowed to marry other dwarves, the player charactermay only be shown available marriage contracts with other dwarves. 84.Output available relationship contracts. The available relationshipcontracts may be provided in the form of a popup window, on a gamescreen or as part of a separate screen, in the form of an email or textmessage, or in any other suitable format. 85. Receive an indication ofacceptance of a relationship contract or a counter offer. Suchindication may be provided, for example, by checking a check box,selecting a specific contract, or by performing a given action that isdetermined to be consistent with entry into the contract. For example,the action of giving or accepting a wedding ring to or from a secondcharacter may be effective to act as acceptance of a marriage contractwith that second character. 86. Create Relationship based on agreed uponcontract conditions, 87. Update relationship contract record, forexample, by updating the appropriate databases.

System 200 may further be configured to sever or allow the severance ofa relationship at a character's request by performing the followingsteps: 88. Receive request to terminate or sever a relationshipcontract. Such request may take the form of a written or oral request.Alternatively, a given character's actions may be determined to beeffective as a request to sever a relationship contract. For example, arequest to enter into the same type or relationship (such as marriage)with a third character that the character is in with a second character,may serve as an automatic request to sever the marital relationship withthe second character. 89. Determine if request is permitted based uponrelationship contract conditions. For example, relationship typedatabase 214 may include conditions that must be met in order for arelationship to be terminated. 90. If request is permitted, severrelationship. 91. If request is not permitted, output additionalconditions that must be met in order for relationship to be severed. Forexample, a spouse who requests divorce may be required to payrestitution to his or her soon to be ex-spouse before the marriage canbe officially terminated. 92. Update relationship contract record, forexample, by updating the data in relationship contract database 216 andfamily tree database 218.

System 200 may further be configured to automatically terminate or severa relationship by performing the following steps: 93. Retrieverelationship contract 94. Determine if contract is eligible to besevered. For example, some contracts may exist for only a certain periodof time or for only so long as some other condition exists. Accordingly,upon expiration of the time period or non-existence of the condition,the contract may be eligible for termination. 95. Output offer to severcontract to player characters 96. If offer is accepted, sever contract.Of course it will be appreciated that some contracts may beautomatically severed, whether or not one or more of the parties want tosever the contract. For example, if a warlord is conquered by a rival,the warlord's slaves may automatically be freed, or transferred to therival, whether or not the warlord agrees or desires for this to happen.97. Update relationship contract record for example, by updating thedata in relationship contract database 216 and family tree database 218.

System 200 may be configured to create a child character based onattributes of parents by performing the following steps: 98. Determinethat a child relationship contract is available for two playercharacters, for example by reviewing the attributes of the playercharacters as identified in their character databases and comparing themwith the parental relationship conditions in the relationship typedatabase. 99. Receive indication that a player character desires to be achild of two player characters. As described in greater detail,according to some embodiments, a child may only be created in a givenvirtual environment if there exists a player who would like to controlthe child character that would be created by the two player characterswho wish to be parents. 100. Generate a genetic profile of the childplayer character based in part on the genetic profile of the parentplayer characters. An method for creating such a genetic profile isdescribed in greater detail in U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/621,880 “Video Game including Child Character Generation UsingCombination of Parent Character Attributes”, filed Jan. 10, 2007, whichis hereby incorporated by reference. 101. Create child player characterwith genetic profile.

System 200 may be configured to create a new player character related toexisting player characters by performing the following steps: 102.Determine that a child relationship is available for one or more playercharacters, for example by reviewing the attributes of the playercharacters as identified in their character databases and comparing themwith the parent-child relationship conditions in the relationship typedatabase. 103. Receive (or generate) child relationship contractconditions. 104. Create child relationship contract 105. Receive newplayer character request, for example from a player who already controlsone or more characters in the virtual environment, or from a new player.106. Output available child relationship contracts. The contracts may bemade available for players to view via any suitable means including forexample, via an in or extra-game exchange, via a message board, via agame-related or third party website, etc. 107. Receive acceptance ofchild relationship contract. Such acceptance may take any suitable formincluding by checking a check box, selecting an available contract, or acharacter's action. 108. Create new player character that is a child ofone or more existing player characters. This may involve, for example,creating a new player character database as well as updating anyrelationship contract and family tree databases.

System 200 may be configured to allow player character to receive gameattributes for completing a game parameter only if a (specific)relationship with another player character exists. In such a case,system 200 may be configured to perform the following steps: 109.Receive indication that a game parameter has been completed by a playercharacter 110. Determine if player character has a (specific type of)relationship with another player character 111. If relationship exists,release available game attributes for successful completion of gameparameter

Certain items in the game may only be obtained by a character from othercharacters which he has a formal relationship with. For example, aparent can only receive certain virtual herbs from his children. Thegoal is to make the players have relationships in order to be able toacquire skills and attributes in the game.

System 200 may be further configured to allow a player character toattempt to complete a game parameter only if a (specific) relationshipwith other player character exists. In such a case, system 200 may beconfigured to perform the following steps: 112. Receive request toattempt to complete a game parameter 113. Determine if player characterhas a (specific type of) relationship with another player character 114.Output “game parameter requires relationship message” if character doesnot have a relationship with another player character 115. Initiate gameparameter if player character has a relationship with another playercharacter.

It will be appreciated that a metaverse enables people from all over theworld to interact with the virtual environment and each other in amyriad of simple and complex ways and that such relationships maysimilarly take a myriad of simple and complex forms, which may or maynot mirror those types of relationships that exist in the real world.Accordingly, any number and type of formalized relationships may becreated in a metaverse and such relationships may be bound by or includeany number of complex rules, guidelines, requirements, benefits,obligations, etc. Therefore, it should be understood that while a numberof specific relationships are described below, the present disclosureshould in no way be considered as limited to only those relationshipsdescribed herein. Moreover, the relationships described herein should inno way be considered as requiring or being limited to only thosespecific manifestations herein described. That being said, variousexamples of suitable in-game relationships and the rules that may beassociated therewith are described below:

Marriage—Two players in a game reach a certain level of the game and arequalified to be married. The characters log in to a special screen ofthe game that displays other characters that are available to bemarried. Characters can display conditions for the marriage i.e. theyneed a certain dowry, prenuptials or will only marry a character of acertain class or level, or with sufficient resources, income or skillsto contribute to the marriage. A player character can accept a marriageproposal or submit a counter offer. When both players agree to the termsof the marriage, then the system sets a flag in both of the characteraccounts indicating their newly formed relationship.

Characters may or may not need to be of the same race, class,nationality, profession, language origin, or the like, in order to marryeach other. Different groups of characters could have different marriagearrangements and/or requirements. For instance Taurens could enter intoplural marriages (i.e. polygamy or polyandry) while Elves could only bemonogamous marriages. Humans could get married upon reaching level 10while elves could not be married until they reach level 15. Some groupscould have multiple marriages, where each marriage has a fixed timelimit.

Entry into a marital relationship may result in various benefits andobligations for the married parties. For example, parties in a maritalrelationship may be required or allowed to provide assistance to theirspouse. Assistance may, for example, take the form of temporary orpermanent transfers of attributes, including, but not necessarilylimited to health points, strength points, intelligence points or thelike. Alternatively or additionally, assistance may, for example, takethe form of help in solving a puzzle, fighting a battle, or completing atask. As a further addition or alternative, assistance may, for example,take the form of a temporary or permanent loan or transfer of one ormore possessions or other in-game items such as, for example, a weapon,spell, tool, currency, etc. Furthermore, as described in greater detailthroughout this disclosure, marriage may be a prerequisite for a varietyof other actions or activities in the game environment.

Parent/Child—a player character may decide or qualify to become aparent. The player character may have to have reached a given level inthe game before he or she is qualified to become a parent. A singleparent and/or the child of a single parent may face challenges, receivedetriments, and/or receive benefits that are not available tomulti-parent relationships.

Some parenting relationships may require that two (or more) charactersbe married to each other (or have formed some other type of permanent ortemporary relationship) before they can have a child. Once twocharacters form a parenting-eligible relationship, one or both of themmay be required to reach a certain level of the game before they canhave a child.

Once a character, or group of characters, has qualified to become aparent, the character accounts of the qualified characters may beflagged to indicate that they are eligible to have children.

The formation of parent/child relationships may be used as a barrier toentry for the game. A new player may only be allowed to enter the gameas a child character, and a child character may only be introduced intothe game when one or two (e.g., if marriage is a prerequisite) otherplayers are eligible to have a child. One or more of the parentcharacters may or may not be required to agree to have a child before anew player character can be formed and the new player allowed to enterthe environment as the child character.

The system may provide mechanisms by which players can design some orall aspects of the avatar of the child character they wish to assume. Anew player can specify what gender, race and class he wants the childcharacter to be. The system may further be able to indicate the generalavailability of parents that would be suitable for the child asdesigned. For example, the system may be able to display what gender,races and classes of characters need or want more children. The systemmay provide a display showing the family trees of player charactersalready in the game that are married (or otherwise qualified to havechildren) and that desire children.

Various characteristics of a child character may be limited, enhanced,or otherwise affected by characteristics of the child's parents. Forexample, parents of a given class may only have children within acertain subset of classes. For instance, the children of a union betweena rogue and a wizard might be limited to being either warriors orpaladins. Additional criteria can be set up by the new player or theparents to further establish the relationship between them. Forinstance, parents can set up a contract with the child so that they takea certain percentage of his experience or game attributes, but agree toleave all of their wealth to the child in their will when they die. Newcharacters can set parameters for becoming a child, for instance, thenew player child may agree to give his parent(s) a certain percentage ofhis future experience points, in exchange for certain attributes orother tangible or intangible property when his parent(s) acquire them.Once the parents and the child have agreed to a contract, the new playercharacter is born into the game and is added to the family tree of theparents. The new child may then begin to play the game and strive togain wealth and attributes, etc. New players can elect to give a greateramount of their experience or game attributes to parents who are in agood family or who otherwise have desirable traits, attributes, wealth,etc. So called “Bad families” will have a cheaper “barrier to entry” fornew players than “good families.”

A new player can choose to have his player inserted into different agesbased on different servers.

Some groups of characters may be able to have children under limitedconditions, i.e. without marriage, in poverty, during war, etc. In thesecases, children entering the game may suffer from deficits in income,attributes, or other characteristics. These deficits may plague theplayer throughout his life or only during childhood. An advantage ofbecoming a child under such circumstances may be that there are fewer orno barriers to entry.

Affair—According to some embodiments, the attributes of children in thegame environment are determined by the attributes of the parents whosire the children. Accordingly, in some instances, a married couple maynot be able to produce offspring that compliment their team playingabilities. For instance, a family may need more healers to have a wellrounded fighting force, but none of the parents can have healers aschildren based on their attributes, class, or other factors. In thisinstance, a player character, once he reaches a certain level, can havean affair with a family member of another family in order to producechildren of a specific class (or having specific abilities, etc.).Children generated in this manner may be members of one or bothfamilies. Various rules may determine which family may absorb the child.For example, a defined ability such as strength may be used to determinefamily membership for the child, i.e. the stronger player may have theright to absorb the child into their family first. The weaker playercharacter may then have the right negotiate a contract with the strongerplayer character in order to provide a child for his family. In thismanner, a family lacking in a certain class of character can go outsidethe family to generate those class types in their family, but must payfor the privilege by providing game attributes to the non family memberwho agrees to have the affair.

Incest—Absent all other options to bear children, close family membersmay have children. In such cases, the offspring shall be created in amanner similar to all other child bearing methods, except that, thereshall be a greater probability of the offspring being defective in oneor more ways. Such defects might include an inability to obtain certainattributes or use certain objects, weapons or tools. Another defect typemight be a general constraint on the speed with which a child achievesvarious objectives, levels, karma, or other attributes. The degree towhich these defects manifest themselves in such offspring may bedetermined randomly or predetermined by a set of rules enforced by theserver or peer-to-peer network.

Divorces—a marriage between two or more characters can be terminated bya third party decree, such as through a divorce proceeding. A divorceproceeding may be instituted at the behest of all or only some of theparties in the marriage. A virtual environment may include a playercharacter or NPC who acts a judge. The judge may have the ability tosplit up the property and/or attributes of the divorcing parties.Alternatively, prior to or during a marriage, the married parties maydecide to enter into a contractual agreement, such as a prenuptialagreement, that governs the distribution of the marital assets.

Slave/Master—A first player character may be captured by second playercharacter in the game. The first player character may then be made aslave to the second player character. Ownership of a slave may provide acharacter with various benefits while being a slave may bestow variouspenalties or disabilities to a character. According to some embodiments,slaves may be considered to be members of their master's family and mayor may not receive any benefits from being a family member.

For example, according to some embodiments, some or all of the slave'sexperience, attributes, skills, possessions or the like may betransferred or under the control of a slave's master until the slave isfreed. Alternatively, various attributes or the like associated with themaster may be automatically increased via ownership of a slave,regardless of the particular attributes associated with the particularslave that has been captured.

A game may include one or more methods by which a slave can be freed.For example, a slave can be freed by payment of a ransom. The paymentmay be made by the slave, a member of the slave's family, or some otherthird party. In some embodiments, the master can put out a ransom note,or provide some other indication of the amount of ransom or otherconditions that may be fulfilled in order for a particular or group ofslaves to be freed. The game may provide a user interface which allowsplayers to view the ransom or other freedom conditions. The players thatare able to view the ransom or other freedom conditions may be limitedto only the slave, only family members of the slave, some other group orsubset of players in the game, or may be widely available to all membersof the gaming community. For example, family members of the slave or theslave himself may be able to log in to a special screen in the game toview the conditions of the ransom to free the slave. If the familymembers or the slave agree to and/or meet the conditions of the ransom,the slave may be freed.

Alternatively, a slave may be freed from one master by being captured byanother master or an individual or group that intends to free the slave.

A slave may be freed by his master, for any or no reason at all.

All the slaves owned by a particular organization, country, or otherentity may be freed based upon the outcome of a war. For example, if aGeneral and his Army defeats another General's Army, the victoriousGeneral may choose to free all the slaves owned by the defeated Generalor entity controlling the defeated General's Army through an“emancipation proclamation.”

Freed slaves may have all that was taken from them returned, plusoptional penalties that are established by the Game Server or within apeer-to-peer network or as otherwise agreed upon by the players.Alternatively, Generals (and/or other ex-masters) may agree toconditions of surrender, which may determine the disposition of anyslaves or other spoils of war. In such case, slaves may be freed butthey may receive only a portion or none of their previously lost wealthor other attributes.

As stated above, characters who are captured and forced to be slaves maybe given penalties or other disabilities. Examples of penalties that maybe imposed on a slave include, but are not limited to: 116. Slaves canplay in the game in a limited capacity until they are free. 117. Slavescan be cut off from communication with their family. 118. Slaves cancommit suicide to start over in the game. In some embodiments, thiscould result in bad karma or some other penalty for the playercharacter, resulting in a low reentry status or other negative effectsto the restarted character.

Slaves may also be given various rights. For example, according tovarious embodiments, 119. Slaves can create their own contracts withother player characters who can free them from being slaves. 120. Slavescan bargain with their masters to free them for a proscribed initial orfuture, i.e., to be paid price.

According to some embodiments, slaves may be transferred from one masterto another master. Such transfers may take place as payment forcontractual obligations, as a trade, as a sale, or for any other reason.In some embodiments, the game may include a marketplace wherein slavesmay be sold or auctioned. Such marketplaces may or may not be exclusiveto the sale or trade of slaves.

Enchanter/Enchanted—According to some embodiments, certain characters,such as undead characters, can build up their army/family by enchantingother player characters. This method of increasing a family may be usedin addition to or instead of the methods described above. When an undeadcharacter reaches a certain level, they are eligible to enchant a“living” player character and cause them to be undead. These newlyundead players than are removed from their current family tree and addedto the undead family tree. To become living again, an undead playerwould have to be unenchanted by a device or spell provided by his familyor by paying another Enchanter to provide the spell for a fee.Alternatively, once a player character has become undead, their familycan only kill them and allow them to be reentered into their familyfurther down the family tree via reincarnation.

According to some embodiments, if an undead character is killed, thenthe undead character that created them can be allowed to make anothercharacter undead. i.e. an undead character who has earned a credit toenchant a living character can reuse it if that living character thathas become undead is killed.

Gods/Worshipers—Some characters, i.e. the first characters that sign onto a server, can be made Gods of their races. These gods can have somecontrol of rules governing the entire game environment and can alsobless or curse characters. Player characters can become blessed byoffering attributes to the gods. They can nullify a curse by offeringattributes to a god. Gods may be player characters or, in certain gameversions, NPCs.

In some embodiments, the goal of a god is for his or her worshipers torule or otherwise control the world. In order to achieve this, a god mayadd extra incentives to parent/child contracts so that new playercharacters join their religion over other alternative religions.

In some embodiments, gods can enter into battles with each other orother entities. According to some embodiments, the strength of a god maybe based on, increased by, or otherwise affected by the strength oftheir worshipers.

The number of characters that can be gods in a given game environmentmay or may not be limited. If the number is limited, a new or existingcharacter may be allowed to achieve god status upon the defeat, death,or disappearance of a previously existing god character.

Boss/Employee—according to one embodiment, new player characters can beintroduced into a game as employees of a boss. Once player charactersreach certain levels or acquire certain attributes in a gameenvironment, they are eligible to take on new players as employees.Employees have to give a certain amount of the experience or gameattributes they acquire to their boss in exchange for the positionand/or protection. If either party fails to fulfill the terms of thecontract, the contract can be nullified and his boss no longer employsthe employee. The contract may include terms that control contractdissolution. This particular type of relationship may be very successfulin a mafia style game.

Available employment contracts may be posted on an in-game message boardor available for viewing by players through some other means. Forexample, characters may be able to log into a special screen in the gameto view employment contracts of other player characters. These contractsmay be formed and governed using the methods described, for example, inU.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 11/355,232 and 11/624,662, each ofwhich is hereby incorporated by reference. Furthermore, the contractsmay be made available on a virtual exchange such as that described inU.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/560,456, which is also incorporatedby reference.

Government Officials—According to one embodiment, various relationshipsmay be formed between characters based on the relationship between agoverning body and its constituency. Formation of the governing body maytake any means, including, for example, through various voting systems,appointment, brute force, etc.

The methods and systems formed by and between governing bodies and theirconstituencies may vary from governed group to governed group.Furthermore, a particular group of people may transitions, quickly orslowly, from one form of government to another during a game.

According to one method of determining who should be a governmentofficial, characters may be required to fulfill one or morecharacteristics in order to qualify to be part of a governing body.These characteristics may includes various character attributesincluding, but not limited to, strength (e.g. achieving a particularnumber of strength points), intelligence (e.g. achieving a particularlevel of intelligence or receiving a particular level of education),race (e.g. a character may need to a dwarf in order to govern a group ofdwarves) and the like. Characteristics may also include factors such asamount of time spent in the game, by either or both the particularcharacter and/or the player controlling the character, pastexperience(s) in the game by either the particular character or theplayer controlling the character, etc. For example, a particulargovernment may require that in order for a character to become agovernment official, the character must have spent at least 20 gamehours playing the game and be controlled by a player who has spent atleast 35 game hours playing the game. The government may further requirethat the character (or controlling player) have accomplished someparticular feat in the game, such as solving a particular puzzle,winning a race, being the first to reach a particular level in the game,or winning a particular battle. Alternatively or additionally, thegovernment may require that the character (or player) have experiencedor taken part in some event in or associated with the game, such asbeing a slave, building public infrastructure, work as a game official,etc.

Qualification, i.e. fulfillment of the characteristics, may result inautomatic appointment to a government position or in eligibility forappointment, election, entry into a contest or battle, etc. In any givenvirtual environment, various different government entities employingvarious different styles of government, or non-government (i.e.anarchist states) may co-exist. For example, the human race can have arepublic government with votes for party members. The Tauren race canhave a monarchy and determine government position based on lineage orwhich player is the strongest. These different governments may or maynot engage in battles to establish supremacy and/or to spread their ruleand form of government.

As part of the relationship between a government official and his or herconstituencies, a government official may be entitled to variousbenefits. For example, a government official may be able to take anexperience or attribute tax from other players. Alternatively oradditionally, similar to the god-worshiper relationship described above,the character attributes of a government official may or may not beaffected by the character attributes of his or her constituencies. Forexample, the strength score of a government official who, by himself,has a rather low strength score, but who governs a group of people who,as a whole have rather high strength scores, may have a relativelyhigher strength score when acting as a government official.

According to some embodiments, government officials may be removed fromoffice according to various methods. For example, in an electoralgovernment, player characters may challenge current government officialsin future elections, which may occur at prescribed times/dates or when amajority of players in a given governed group agree to hold newelections. An elected official may also be removed from government ifhis land, people, wealth, etc. are conquered by another group, or if hehimself is captured by someone else. A group of governed people maystage an uprising and oust their current official. Various other formsof government may simply allow one or more individuals to govern on arotational basis and such leadership may then be terminated upon the endof a predetermined term length or other basis.

Sports Teams/Coaches—According to some embodiments, multiple charactersand/or NPCs may form a sports team. Any given team may or may notinclude one or more coach. Any suitable method may be employed by acoach or sports team to recruit players and create or expand a team. Asnon-limiting examples, teams may be able to expand or replace theirmembership through informal or formal recruiting, lottery, drafting,assignment, etc. from a pool of player characters and/or NPCs who may ormay not have indicated their desire to join a team. As a specificexample, a coach can recruit new player characters to be on his teambased on how well his team is doing against other teams. In thisexample, a coach can receive points for winning matches and, when acertain number of points have been obtained, he can be entitled torecruit new player characters to be on his team.

In some embodiments, player characters can be traded from one team tothe next. Such trades may or may not be for other players, for example,player characters on a team can alternatively be traded for game points,game credits or attributes. The trades may or may not be with theconsent of the traded or non-traded members of the team. There may ormay not be a specific trading window which may or may not close at agiven time during a season or off-season.

According to some embodiments, there may be a virtual bench that coachescan recruit from if they meet certain qualifications, such as having acertain amount of success, or lack thereof, or if other playercharacters on the team can no longer or are no longer available to playdue to trade, injury, quitting or leaving the game, or death.

Alternatively or additionally, a coach may be given the right to obtainone or more additional players with specific skill sets. Such right maybe granted in order to help the coach improve his team, for example.Moreover, such right may be granted randomly or at predetermined timeperiods or intervals. As an example, if one team were to become sostrong that it consistently dominates all other teams, the Game Serveror peer-to-peer network may grant one or more of the underperformingteams the right to add sufficient additional players with appropriateskills and experience so as to make them better able to compete againstthe dominate team.

General/Soldier—According to various embodiments, a game environment mayallow for the formation of a relationship between the general and one ormore soldiers. A player character who is a general can recruit newplayer characters into his army when he successfully defeats anotherarmy in combat. New player characters entering the game environment canelect to join an army based on available slots and offers in contracts.A weaker army would have to give more to new recruits in order to havethem join. A contract to join an army could include: 121. A rank orposition in the army 122. A salary 123. A % of spoils obtained by thearmy 124. One or more attributes (swords, etc)

According to some embodiments, in order to help ensure competitivenessbetween armies, or for other reasons, the Game Server or peer-to-peernetwork may randomly or via proscribed rules, grant rights tounderperforming teams to obtain new soldiers for free or for reducedfees.

A general/soldier relationship may provide various benefits andobligations to and from the general and soldier. For example, a soldiermay be required to perform the tasks assigned to or requested of him bythe general. In return, the general may agree to provide certaincompensation, or necessities such as food and shelter. Furthermore, aplayer character may chose to enter into a general/soldier relationshipas a soldier (or general) in order to gain various attributes (such asstrength, or experience points), gain various items (such as wealthaccumulated as spoils as war) or in order to fulfill a prerequisite foranother position in the environment, such as a government official.

Guilds—Player characters in a virtual environment may decide to form oneor more guilds. Traditionally, though not necessarily, guilds are formedby players who have similar skill sets (e.g. an artists guild) or whoperform the same type of work (e.g. an assassins guild.) A guild may ormay not include some form of hierarchical leadership structure. Themethods and systems by which a guild can grow or create membership maybe dictated by various rules and requirements. For example, in oneexample, a player character in charge of a guild may not be able to addother player characters to the tuild unless either he or his guild haveobtained a certain level in the game, completed certain game parameters,or acquired enough game attributes to qualify to add characters to theguild. New player characters coming into the guild can do so with acontract that can be negotiated before they join the game environment.Players in a guild can renegotiate contracts with their guild, or can berecruited to other guilds who offer competitive contracts.

Membership in a guild, as well as positions of leadership within theguild, if any, may come with various benefits and obligations. Acontract between the guild member and the guild may or may not encompassall of the benefits and obligations of guild membership. Different guildmembers may or may not have different benefits and obligations and suchbenefits and obligations may or may not be dependant upon a member'sleadership position in the guild. Guilds may or may not act as unions intheir interactions with other guilds or entities within the virtualworld, by which it is meant that a guild may or may not be enabled toleverage a collective bargaining power in order to establish, maintain,or sever, relationships with other entities in the virtual world.

The invention is described with reference to several embodiments.However, the invention is not limited to the embodiments disclosed, andthose of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the invention isreadily applicable to many other diverse embodiments and applications.Accordingly, the subject matter of the present disclosure includes allnovel and nonobvious combinations and subcombinations of the varioussystems, methods and configurations, and other features, functions,and/or properties disclosed herein.

The herein described aspects and drawings illustrate componentscontained within, or connected with other components that permit play inthe virtual environment. It is to be understood that such depicteddesigns are merely exemplary and that many other designs may beimplemented to achieve the same functionality. Any arrangement ofcomponents to achieve the same functionality is effectively associatedsuch that the desired functionality is achieved. FIG. 1 provides anexemplary network which may be used to support a virtual environment.

Of course it will be appreciated that the systems methods describedherein are provided for the purposes of example only and that none ofthe above systems methods should be interpreted as necessarily requiringany of the disclosed components or steps nor should they be interpretedas necessarily excluding any additional components or steps.

1. A method performed by a computer, the method comprising: providing,by a Video Game Central Server, a virtual environment accessible by aplurality of players, wherein the players are able to interact with thevirtual environment and each other via characters; receiving, by theVideo Game Central Server, a request from a first player character toenter into a formalized relationship with a second character;determining, by the Video Game Central Server, if the first playercharacter is qualified to enter into a formalized relationship with asecond character; creating, by the Video Game Central Server, theformalized relationship between the first player character and thesecond character; monitoring, by the Video Game Central Server, theactions of the first player character in the virtual environment;determining, by the Video Game Central Server, if an action taken by thefirst player character is inconsistent with the formalized relationshipcreated between the first player character and the second character;receiving, by the Video Game Central Server, from the second character acommand to terminate the formalized relationship; terminating, by theVideo Game Central Server, the formalized relationship.
 2. The method ofclaim 1 wherein creating the formalized relationship between the firstplayer character and the second character comprises identifying benefitsthat are associated with the formalized relationship and bestowing thebenefits upon the first player character.
 3. The method of claim 1wherein creating the formalized relationship between the first playercharacter and the second character comprises identifying at least oneobligation that is associated with the formalized relationship andimposing the obligation upon the first player character.
 4. The methodof claim 3 wherein imposing an obligation comprises assessing a penaltyif the first player character does not satisfy the imposed obligation.5. The method of claim 1 further comprising: receiving a request fromthe first player character to terminate the relationship; determining ifthe first player character is qualified to terminate the relationship;and terminating the relationship.
 6. The method of claim 5 whereinterminating the relationship comprises terminating any benefits thatwould have been bestowed had the formalized relationship still existed.7. The method of claim 5 wherein terminating the relationship comprisesrefraining from assessing any penalties for failure to meet anobligation had the formalized relationship.
 8. The method of claim 1wherein an action is inconsistent with a formalized relationship if itis a request to enter into the same type of formalized relationship witha third character.
 9. The method of claim 1 further comprising askingthe second character if they would like to enter into the formalizedrelationship.
 10. An apparatus comprising: a processor; and a computerreadable medium in communication with the processor; in which thecomputer readable medium stores instructions which, when executed by theprocessor, direct the processor to provide a virtual environmentaccessible by a plurality of players, wherein the players are able tointeract with the virtual environment and each other via characters;receive a request from a first player character to enter into aformalized relationship with a second character; determine if the firstplayer character is qualified to enter into a formalized relationshipwith a second character; create the formalized relationship between thefirst player character and the second character; monitor the actions ofthe first player character in the virtual environment; determine if anaction taken by the first player character is inconsistent with theformalized relationship created between the first player character andthe second character; receive from the second character a command toterminate the formalized relationship; terminate the formalizedrelationship.
 11. The apparatus of claim 10, in which the computerreadable medium stores instructions which, when executed by theprocessor, direct the processor to generate a user interface whichpermits a player to specify the completion of a task that defines anobligation under a contract.
 12. The apparatus of claim 10 whereincreating the formalized relationship between the first player characterand the second character comprises identifying at least one obligationthat is associated with the formalized relationship and imposing theobligation upon the first player character.
 13. The apparatus of claim12 wherein imposing an obligation comprises assessing a penalty if thefirst player character does not satisfy the imposed obligation.
 14. Theapparatus of claim 10, in which the computer readable medium storesinstructions which, when executed by the processor, direct the processorto: receive a request from the first player character to terminate therelationship; determine if the first player character is qualified toterminate the relationship; and terminate the relationship.